Dead Dog
by Daughter of Bast1
Summary: What if Sarah didn't lose Toby to the Goblin King? What if she lost something else... like her dog? (Go ahead and read it, it's a lot better than you thnik.)


AN: I don't Labyrinth. This fic is for entertainment purposes only. Don't sue me, the only thing you get is my student loans! 

Dead Dog Pt. I 

Sarah was furious. She had chased Merlin around the house for over 15 minutes before she was able to retrieve her homework from the dog's mouth. 

She looked at what was left of her research paper. Several pages were missing and the ones surviving were either partially chewed or slobbered on. How was she going to explain to her literature teacher that the dog ate her homework? "I'm going to kill that mutt!" she thought angrily. 

Sarah hadn't wanted a dog in the first place. They were smelly and tended to make a mess of wherever they went. She was also allergic to Merlin, which didn't help. But Toby had wanted a dog and her father and Karen had thought a dog would be a good experience for the family. Karen had also pointed out that the responsibility of a pet would also help Sarah to become `a more mature and responsible adult.' 

"Responsible my ass!" Sarah muttered. The only thing Merlin had done for her was give her more work to do. Between him, school, and looking after Toby, Sarah hardly had time for anything resembling a social life. 

"What am I gonna do?" she asked herself as she looked helplessly around her room. Her eyes came to rest on her copy of The Labyrinth. She was studying the play for her lit. class and had written her research paper on it. 

"I wish the Goblin King were real so he could take Merlin away to the Underground. Then I wouldn't have to worry about him all the time." Just as Sarah finished her thoughts out-loud, there was a crash of thunder and a flash of light behind her. 

Sarah spun around to find a strange man in her room. "Hello, Sarah. I believe you called for me?" the stranger said. 

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my room?!" Sarah demanded. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Before her was a man dressed in something right out of Lord of the Rings. He wore a flowing poet's shirt covered by a dark burgundy vest, tight black leggings, and thigh-high black leather boots. If that wasn't strange enough, his blond hair was cut in a spiky fashion with the back worn slightly long. 

"Really Sarah. Such language is unnecessary," the stranger informed her. 

"Just answer the question, buster! Who are you and how did you get into my house?" Sarah demanded again. She wondered if she was hallucinating or had just lost her mind all together. Her friends kept warning her she was going to go over the deep end one of these days from reading too many fantasy novels. 

"You know perfectly well who I am Sarah. I'm the Goblin King. And as for how I arrived here, well you did invite me and I was never one for passing up an invitation to visit." 

"Now I know I've lost my mind." Sarah muttered. 

"On the contrary, my dear Sarah, you are perfectly sane and rational. I am simply here to collect your dog as you requested." The Goblin King then produced a crystal globe from between his fingers and sent it spinning out of the room. Sarah heard Merlin barking frantically, only to be cut off in mid-bark. The crystal floated back into her room into the waiting hand of the Goblin King. 

"Now that that chore is done, I bid you good evening." Thus said, the Goblin King departed in a cloud of sparkling glitter. 

Sarah stood in the middle of her now empty room. There was no sound in the house. Her father was still at work and Karen had taken Toby to the park to play. They wouldn't be back for hours. 

Sarah did the only thing a normal person could do given the circumstances. She took several aspirin for a headache she just discovered she had, and went to bed. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning. 

Sarah woke up to the blaring of her alarm clock. She whacked the snooze button and rolled over for 10 more minutes of sleep. She thought about the strange dream she had last night. "If only it were true. I would give almost anything to be rid of that dog." She sighed and got up. It was no use sleeping in; Merlin would simply come bouncing in any minute wanting to be fed. 

Sarah waited to hear the pounding of big feet on the steps outside her room. Merlin always came rushing into her room once the alarm went off. She waited and still no dog. "This is weird. Where is he anyway?" 

Sarah rolled over and looked at her door as if that would make the missing dog appear. She was starting to get worried. She got out of bed and went to look for him. 

Ten minutes later, Sarah still hadn't found Merlin. What she did find was a note from Karen informing her to remember to feed him and take him for a walk before she left for school. Karen said she had dropped Toby off at daycare and would be back by 5 o'clock in the evening. 

"What am I suppose to do now? If I can't find Merlin by the time Karen and Toby get home, I'm going to be in big trouble." Sarah thought to herself. Maybe he got out, and was somewhere in the neighborhood? 

Sarah debated whether she should skip school and look for Merlin, or go to school and hope he showed up by the time she came home. She decided to look for the dog. She could always make-up her classes, but if she didn't find the dog, or if something happened to him, she wasn't sure she liked the idea of what would happen to her. 

Three hours later, and still no dog. Sarah had looked everywhere. She had driven all over the neighborhood and when that failed to show results, she went around the area on foot hoping she might have overlooked Merlin in her first search. "My feet are killing me. Where in the world could he be?" she questioned as she sat down on a chair rubbing her feet. 

Sarah was starting to wonder if the strange dream she had last night, might not have been a dream after all. She had looked for Merlin everywhere she could think of. She had even called all the local vets and animal shelters in hopes that someone had found him wandering around and had turned him in somewhere. Merlin was simply no where to be found. At least, not on earth. 

"What have I got to lose?" she asked herself. "The worst thing that will happens is that I'll feel foolish because no one answered me." That decided, Sarah stood up and went back to her bedroom. If the Goblin King had really answered her plea to take the dog away, she wanted to make everything as close as possible to the last time she had summoned him. 

" Goblin King, I request your presence here. You said yourself you never pass up an invitation to visit, so consider yourself invited." Sarah waited for the figure of the Goblin King to appear, but nothing happened. After waiting five minutes, she was starting to feel rather foolish, not to mention annoyed. "I said, consider yourself invited." Another five minutes and still nothing. 

"That's it! Wherever the hell you are, you better show yourself right now or else!" Sarah practically screamed the last sentence she was so mad. 

"'Or else' what, my dear?" a voice said from behind Sarah. She turned around so fast she almost lost her balance. "Where have you been? Are you deaf or just stupid? I called for you repeatedly. Why didn't you come? To busy snatching people's dogs?" Sarah was beyond caring if she was insulting him or not. She hadn't really expected the Goblin King to answer her, and seeing him in her bedroom once more, made her rather nervous. She wasn't sure she should be glad last night's dream was real. On the good side, she knew where Merlin was and could get him back. She also wasn't crazy. On the bad side, she had probably just pissed off a Fae, and that was never a smart thing to do. 

"If you are done insulting me, I believe you demanded my presence." 

AN: OK, before anyone flames me for being a dog-hater, let me clarify that I happen to like dogs quite a bit. I've had several as pets over the years, and my mother just got a Pug (she's really cute!) 

I wrote this as an inspiration to reading another Laby fanfic. In it, the author, (I don't recall who) was pointing out some similarities among Labyrinth fics. He (I remember the author was male, I think), pointed out about the only thing not done in a Laby fic, was animals. So I decided this was a good idea for a spoof. 

So kiddies, review away, and if you happen to be the author who inspired this fic, e-mail me and let me know so I can give proper credit to you! 

PS: Please, please, please, for the love of humanity, someone read and review my other fic. I can't write if I don't get constructive criticism or better yet, adoring compliments! Yes, this is a shameless plug. And your point is? 


End file.
